Saturday, November 28, 2009

on a float on a river... not just any river... a spring-fed river in the Ozark Mountains.

From a distance, the Gasconade is bluish-green. Up close or in it, the water is oft-times clear, always cool and refreshing. Float the river in summertime and the air is filled with aromas. Woods thick with trees of oak and black walnut. You will pass by high bluffs of grey rock, brown rock, carpeted with moss, and when the sun hits the bluffs at certain angles, they sparkle like jewels.

These sights and aromas are part of my story, Green River, one of three manlove tales in the MLR PRESS ghost anthology, Past Shadows.

My tale is set along the Gasconade in 1938. There's a bridge carrying traffic along U.S. Route 66, and under one of its piers lives a friendly spirt... well, it is friendly to the men working for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) to rehab the highway and its river bridge. The spirit likes to play wank the weenie when those men are skinny-dipping during their free time. The link in the title of this post will take you to YouTube where you can see a three-minute slide show that tells all about Green River.

Glad you asked. It is the creation of Candle Artist Jfay, instigated by my request for her to re-create the sights and sounds of the Gasconade I described earlier. This past Tuesday, I received my candle, and I am here to state without debate that she has succeeded. She created a scent unique, and design which depicts the very bluffs I myself have seen. Want to know how she did it? Go to her web site and find out... here:

You can have one for your very own, and when winter winds howl outside your window, you can fire it up, inhale, and picture yourself on a float on the Gasconade. While you're at Jfay's site, you will also find a text excerpt from my Green River which inspired the candle.